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There is a fit & happier person inside everyone

Monthly Archives: June 2017

This is the first full week of summer vacation in my house. If your household is like mine, this also begins the dreadful time of year when parents are stressed about how to fill summer days with meaningful activity for kids devoid of nagging on our parts and complaints of boredom on theirs.

When my girls were elementary school age, it was much easier. Now I have a high schooler who isn’t quite old enough to get a summer job who has intermittent dance and pottery classes and a middle schooler who has two weeks of tennis camp, two weeks of basketball camp and six weeks of time to fill.

The challenge is, how do I ensure there’s a good balance of down-time and structured activity? And, how can I manage their down-time without setting us up for a daily battle of wills?

I think I’ve found an answer that will teach them some basic life skills, important values and how to establish an enjoyable fitness routine. They’ll do this while maintaining ownership over what they do with their time and all for a relatively small investment on my part.

I’m sharing my plan with you. Perhaps you’ll find some ideas that will work for your family.

Summer Chores

Overview: My girls have chores they’re responsible for year-round in exchange for a modest (a few dollars) weekly allowance. These are kept small in scope because they have limited time between homework and extracurricular activities. But the summer opens up opportunities to lighten my load of household chores while teaching them basic life skills in exchange for earning more significant amounts of cash. Some of the chores they can choose from are one-time jobs like cleaning the windows, blinds and ceiling fans. Other options can be done weekly like laundry, making dinner for the family and weeding the flower beds.

Execution: The list of chores available to them is posted on our fridge along with each chore’s corresponding hourly rate. They can choose whatever chore they want to do and when they do it. They’re responsible for keeping track of their time and a parent has to approve of the job at its completion before they get paid. I’ve priced them according to level of difficulty. For example, they’ll earn $20/hour for cleaning the windows, $15/hour for making dinner and $10/hour for doing laundry.

Life Skill Rewards: Aside from the obvious practical skills they hone by performing the chores, they also learn about the value of work, taking pride in one’s work and the financial lessons taught by earning, saving, budgeting and spending one’s own money.

Fitness Rewards: All these chores incorporate varying degrees of all the components of exercise (cardiovascular, strengthening and flexibility). Fortunately, both of my girls have taken cooking classes and enjoy it. As such, they both have an interest in doing the dinner chore throughout the summer. This is a great way for them to learn how to choose healthy foods and how to cook them healthfully. In essence, they’re exercising and making choices about eating healthy without realizing it and getting paid for it. Truly a win-win.

Summer Workout Challenge

Overview: They’re challenged to earn 150 exercise points each week throughout the summer. Every week they earn 150 points, they can choose to receive one of five possible rewards, such as one item from a local bakery or ice cream shop or a book, digital movie rental or three digital songs of their choice. Interestingly, the last possible reward they can earn for exercise doesn’t cost us a thing and is the one they’re most excited about earning: “Me Day.” Earning a “Me Day” means she’s excused from the daily chore of making her bed, she chooses what’s for dinner that night and she gets to choose what’s on the radio while in the car and during meals for that entire day. (We don’t have a TV where we eat meals but we do have a radio which is always on whatever Mom wants to listen to while we eat. Ditto in the car. They’re dying to make me listen to their music!)

Execution: They get credit for the dance classes my older daughter is taking and the sports day camps my younger daughter is in. Each day they have dance or sports, they earn 25 points. Beyond that, they need to earn the remainder of their 150 point goal by fitting in exercise during their free time. Moderate intensity exercise like walking or yoga earns them one point per minute and high intensity exercise like running or jumping rope earns them two points per minute. Like the chores, they’re responsible for tracking their time exercising and reporting to me for approval of points earned. To encourage consistency, they’re not allowed to carry points into the next week.

Rewards: As a fitness professional, I understand the best way to develop healthy exercise habits that last a lifetime is to engage in several things one enjoys doing, keep the goals short-term and simple and reward consistency. This plan touches on all three.

I believe many of today’s kids have too much structured time and, therefore, tend to choose unwisely with their free time. Namely, they spend most of their free time in front of screens. My girls have daily limits on their screen time and they both have their share of structured time throughout the summer. But they have a lot of free time as well. It’s really not fair to them if I don’t give them viable and rewarding options over which they have ownership.

How well will it work? That remains to be seen. But they’ve both taken advantage of both rewards plans already. By my count, that makes the score: Fit & Happy Kids 1, Unproductive & Bored Kids 0.

Summer officially begins this Wednesday, June 21, at 12:24am. That means it’s time for my annual reminder about safe exercise when Mother Nature turns up the heat.

HUMAN HVAC SYSTEM 101

To understand the body’s natural cooling system, consider a smart phone on a battery-saver setting. This setting will give priority to the most important functions and shut down less necessary functions as it gets low on power to avoid complete system failure.

Similarly, keeping the core temperature within the normal range is a priority for the human body. The brain knows a rise of a few degrees in core temperature can lead to heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Both will cause acute illness and can lead to organ failure and even death. To avoid this, when the environment heats up, the body will slow or shut down less necessary functions and divert energy to keep temperature normalized.

Cooling happens when sweat glands are signaled to release water on the skin’s surface. Cooling doesn’t come directly from the sweat but, rather, from the evaporation of the perspiration. Anything that impedes evaporation puts a strain on the body’s cooling system. The more this system is taxed, the greater the risk it will fail.

The very first signs that the body is having trouble keeping cool are cramping and dehydration. Ignoring these early warning signs is a recipe for heat exhaustion or, worse, heat stroke.

RULES OF HOT WEATHER ENGAGEMENT

#1: Avoid the hottest time of day:There is no correlation between sweat and number of calories burned.

It’s true an elevated heart rate during exercise induces more sweat and calorie burn than a body at rest. But, calorie burn is related to work output, not sweat generation. For example, run on a cold day and you’ll perspire and burn calories. But, you’d probably sweat just as much lying on the beach in July. There’s no excess calorie burn while sunbathing even though perspiration is high. In fact, you may burn fewer calories lying on the beach as compared to lying on your couch and here’s why.

The body’s energy production releases heat as a by-product of burning calories and, when the environment is hot, the body will produce less internal heat to keep cool. Whether you sunbathe or run at noon on a 90 degree day, your body will adjust its systems to cool the body while expending the fewest calories possible.

It may feel like you’re getting a great workout on a hot day, but the exhaustion you feel comes from the body diverting its resources away from the cardiovascular system and muscles to reduce calorie burn and rev up the cooling system. The more hot and humid the conditions, the quicker the diverting process kicks in. This isn’t a productive workout. On the contrary, it’s risky with none of the rewards.

#2: Don’t overdress: Remember, the body cools not from the sweat itself but from the evaporation of sweat off exposed skin. Covering skin impedes evaporation. The hotter, more humid the day, the more exposed skin you should have.

#3: Beware humidity: Wet, heavy, still air impedes the evaporation process. Dry, breezy air is conducive to evaporation. So, while running in 90 degree weather in the arid desert is risky, running in 85 degree weather in 85% humidity could be deadly.

Both heat and humidity need to be taken into consideration before deciding to exercise outdoors. Weather websites and apps post current temperature and relative humidity. An easier indicator to use is a third number often posted, sometimes called the “feels like”, “real feel” or the wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT). WBGT is derived from a formula that takes into consideration temperature, humidity and radiant heat.

By the way, the same rules apply if you’re working out indoors without air conditioning. Using fans can aid the evaporation process but care should be taken to keep workout times shorter and intensities lower in very humid conditions.

Hydration: Two hours before exercise, drink 17-20 oz of water. Sip 7-10 oz of water every 10-20 minutes while exercising. Afterwards, drink 16-24 oz for every one-hour period of your workout. Under these circumstances, it’s recommended to include sports drinks that contain sodium and electrolytes which are also lost when we perspire.

Time of Day: Avoid the hottest time of day when sunlight is direct and shade is in short supply – 11am to 5 pm. Opt for right after sunrise or just before sunset when the sun is low on the horizon. Watch the sky and consult weather forecasts, high heat and humidity increases the likelihood of dangerous storms.

DECONDITIONED or those with CARDIOVASCULAR or PULOMONARY CONDITIONS:Avoid all outdoor workouts as WBGT exceeds 80 degrees: Individuals in these categories are especially vulnerable. Opt to exercise in air conditioned indoor environments instead. Follow the above precautions for hydration, attire, time of day and intensity when WBGT is in the 75-80 degree range.

EVERYONE: Avoid outdoor workouts when WBGT nears or exceeds 90 degrees: If you’re a regular exerciser, being forced to change things up courtesy of Mother Nature can be a positive thing. It’s a fitness boost to introduce unfamiliar workouts on different days. Some alternatives to your regular workout when it’s too risky to do the status quo:

Get a day pass for a nearby gym

Do a lap swim workout at the local pool

Sample a studio yoga or Pilates class

Do an online cardio-strength training workout in an A/C environment

Swap your rest day for the week

Be smart and healthy on those oppressive days and be fit and happier all summer long.

Freeze right where you are and notice the position of your neck, shoulders, hips and lower back. If you can, keep your body in exactly this position and stand profile to a full-length mirror or reflective glass. Notice your tummy in this position.

Supermans

Now, try this experiment. Take a deep inhale, as you exhale, roll your shoulders back and down, position your head as though you’re balancing a book on it, engage your glutes (butt muscles) so that the front of the pelvis and thighs form a straight line and, finally, engage your abdominal muscles to pull your belly button toward the spine. (If you’re doing this correctly, you can hold this position and breathe normally with very little movement in the stomach.) Now, notice that you appear taller, trimmer and with a smaller belly compared to before. Great posture is nature’s tummy tuck.

Glute Bridge

But, unless you actively work to strengthen your core – the muscles in the abdomen and back – you can’t have good posture. Even more so if you spend a good part of your days in a seated position. The seated position weakens core muscles. The longer you sit, the weaker they get.

Plank

Yet, there’s so much more to great posture than how you look. A strong core and good posture can alleviate or prevent lower back pain – the most common muscular complaint in America. It can also help prevent other common aches and pains in the joints throughout the body.

Side Plank

The reason is the core is responsible for stabilizing the body through every movement. If the core isn’t strong enough to do its basic job of stabilizing, then all movement becomes dysfunctional. Dysfunctional movement leads to muscle imbalances and restriction of range of motion in the joints. Eventually, this can lead to muscle and joint pain and possible deterioration and damage.

Bird-dog

The following exercises strengthen the lines of posture. Alternate between Group A and B every day or, if you prefer, perform both groups of exercises every-other-day. For each exercise, perform as instructed, rest for 30-60 seconds, and repeat the exercise a second time before moving onto the next exercise in the group. Static photos of each exercise are shown throughout this post, click on the exercise to link to detailed video and text instructions from ACE Fitness.

After performing the strengthening exercises, perform the following stretches, hold each for 30 seconds or more. These stretches should also be done throughout the day when taking breaks from sitting.

Chest Stretch: Stand with feet parallel and hip-width apart. Be sure the spine is aligned with ears over shoulders, shoulders over hips, hips over knees and knees over ankles. Reach straight arms behind you to clasp hands together behind hips. Raise arms high enough to feel a stretch in the chest muscles without pain. If you can’t clasp your hands together, use a belt to bridge the hands.

The more you do these strengthening and lengthening exercises for your core, the easier it will become to stand and sit in the proper posture alignment as described in the experiment in front of the mirror.

Of course, these exercises can’t actually make one thinner or lose body fat in the belly area. Nor can they erase an abdominal skin “pouch” left behind by significant weight loss or carrying babies to full term. (By the way, I wish we’d all sport those pouches proudly as the badges of honor they are rather than as a shameful burden requiring a surgeon to rid one of it.) But, having a strong core and good posture does allow you to put your best foot forward, or best tummy forward, if you will. And that’s healthier and a lot less painful and expensive than any tummy tuck.

This month’s Small Step challenges you to add a strength training workout to your weekly regimen. For those struggling to adopt a fit life, this challenge is one of the hardest. Assumptions like not knowing what exercises to do or how to do them, believing special equipment is needed, the necessity of going to a gym, or that it’s a big time commitment keep many away.

It’s important to know what exercises to do and how to perform them properly, but learning what to do and how to do it has never been easier. There’s no limit to the DVDs, digital video streaming, apps, You Tube videos, websites, blogs and virtual trainers available that provide detailed strength training instruction from certified fitness trainers. Which means these workouts can be done anywhere, anytime and, as such, most don’t require specialized equipment.

Plank

The market is full of options because women are learning they lose 1/2 pound of lean mass annually beginning at the age of 30, that this slows metabolism and that both of these factors translate to increasing difficulty in losing excess weight and maintaining a healthy weight. The only proven antidote to this is regular, weekly strength training.

Now that you know the why of strength training, the Fit Tip for this month provides you with the what and how and practical suggestions for when and where.

Lunge

Where & When

The exercise suggestions here can be performed comfortably in about seven-by-four feet of unobstructed space. For your comfort and safety, perform on a padded, non-slip surface. A yoga or exercise mat is best but most carpeted surfaces would also be sufficient. Choose your preference of bare feet, socks with non-slip grip soles or flexible sneakers. Wear flexible, lightweight fabrics for optimal comfort.

Push Up

As the blog title suggests, these exercises can be done in five-minute bouts. The workout consists of three separate five-minute bouts with two different exercises per bout. The bouts could be done consecutively and completed in a total of 15 minutes. But, the beauty of this workout is, it doesn’t need to be done all at once to be effective. For example, you could do five-minute bout #1 in the morning, five-minute bout #2 in the afternoon, and five-minute bout #3 in the evening and be able to say you completed a full-body strength training workout by the time you go to bed.

Glute Bridge

The all-at-once approach is great to do while watching TV or streaming video or audio. The five-minute-at-a-time approach works well during waiting time, such as waiting for water to boil, the oven to preheat, laundry to finish, a software update or download.

If you’re just getting started, aim to complete this entire workout one day per week. If you want to achieve greater increases in strength and lean mass, do this workout two or three days per week. But, never strength train on back-to-back days. All lean mass gains are made in the 48 hour recovery period post workout. Every-other-day strength training with a maximum of three per week is best.

Downward Dog

What & How

What follows are six strength and complementary flexibility exercises divided into three separate bouts of two strength/stretch exercises each. Each exercise duet should be performed for a total of five minutes. Each exercise has an imbedded link, click on the exercise title to link to visual and step-by-step written instructions on proper form from ACE Fitness. Still photos of all the exercises are also found throughout this post. You’ll need to use a clock or watch with a second hand, kitchen timer or stopwatch app to keep track.

Hip Flexor Stretch

If you have been sitting just before performing a bout, warm up the muscles by walking for a minute or up and down a flight of stairs prior to exercising.

Childs Pose

5-Minute Bout #1: This bout will strengthen and stretch front and back of legs, core, upper back, chest, biceps and shoulders.

Advanced: Start timer; perform as many lunges as possible, alternating left and right legs, for 1 minute; perform crossover stretch for 15 seconds on each side; perform as many push ups as possible for 30 seconds; perform triceps stretch for 15 seconds on each side; repeat this cycle a second time.